New Imagine! senior group home opens in Broomfield

RIGHT AT HOME: Peter Schmidt watches TV last week in his room at the new Imagine! Next Step Group Home in Broomfield. (Mark Leffingwell / Boulder Daily Camera)

Imagine! group homes

Imagine! provides support services to more than 2,600 people with developmental and cognitive disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, including around 367 people in Broomfield.

Families interested in learning more about residential programs and other resources can call 303-665-7789 or visit imaginecolorado.org.

Residents in a new group home in Broomfield are starting a new life.

On a recent Wednesday, as summer rains started to fall on the rooftop of the newly-built home in northern Broomfield, three residents started their early evening routine: Coming home from work or day programs, watching some TV and getting settled after spending time with family. Soon after, the three had a meal of homemade macaroni and cheese.

The residents are older adults with developmental disabilities. In the past, they have lived with family or in host homes. Yet their new home is designed to keep them from feeling isolated as they age, while avoiding more expensive living arrangements, such as nursing homes.

The Next Step Group Home is known more informally as the Santa Fe house because of its street address on Santa Fe Drive. It was designed and built by Imagine!, an organization that provides support services to people with developmental and cognitive disabilities.

The six-bedroom Santa Fe house, which also has a large common living room and kitchen area, is the first Imagine! home in Broomfield.

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Since moving into the Santa Fe house just a few weeks ago, residents are still transitioning to their new digs.

So far, though, it's been positive for new resident William Nitzel.

"Everyone is pretty friendly here," he said.

Nitzel previously lived in a host home, but when his medical needs started to increase, his name went on the list of interested individuals who wanted to move into the Santa Fe house, said Jodi Walters, director of Imagine's residential program, called Innovations.

Nitzel, who typically uses a cane to get around, said he really liked living with his previous caregiver. Yet his new home also has its perks.

For example, the bigger shower area makes it easier for him to use his shower chair and a detachable showerhead, he said.

"I used to really hate taking showers," he said.

There also is a different social element, where he has been meeting other residents, he said.

Those other residents include Peter Schmidt and Jeanne Brodie, who also moved into the Santa Fe house in the past few weeks.

Three more people are scheduled to move into the rest of the empty bedrooms in another few weeks.

Anna Kite, an assistant supervisor in the home, sometimes makes dinner or other meals for the residents and catches up with them while they have their meals.

She said socializing and spending meals together is a good way for the new residents to feel welcome and make the place their own.

"They talk with each other (during meals) and say good morning or good night to each other," she said.

Schmidt, a Broomfield resident who lived in host homes and also lived with his sister before moving to the Santa Fe house, spends his days going to day programs with FRIENDS of Broomfield or another day program in Thornton.

His sister, Nancy Schmidt, said she is happy to see Imagine! build a specialized home for older adults in the Broomfield area. She lives in Broomfield and wanted her brother to find a comfortable house that was near her family.

In some host homes, if a caregiver quits, the resident with disabilities often has to move to a new place. That can be stressful and feel unstable, she said.

"Their residence, their diet, even their doctors sometimes have to change," she said.

At the Santa Fe house, she sees a greater opportunity for her brother to have a long-term place to live with a stable routine and personal space, she said.

"If an employee quits(at the Santa Fe house), he doesn't have to move," she said. " It's his own place, his own room, the same day programs. He's still close to me."

Chantelle Tweten, a site supervisor for the new home, said the residents have help and support in the form of several counselors and other employees who help cook meals, make sure residents take medications and provide other caregiving aspects based on the residents' needs.

The Next Step Group Home is the first Imagine! group home built in Broomfield, Walters said.

Imagine! has five other group homes in operation throughout Boulder County, including another senior-focused home in north Boulder.

The project cost $1.15 million and was funded from a combination of state, federal and local sources, she said.

The bulk of funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will provide $698,220 for capital advance and $68,100 for a three-year rental subsidy, she said.

In addition, the state housing division provided $150,000, and a Broomfield Community Development Block Grant offered $25,000.

An anonymous donor provided another $30,000 to use for building costs, and the home's architect, PEH Architects, provided another $15,000, she said.

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